The present invention relates to an automatically actuated louver system for lamps in which the louver system automatically opens when the lamp is activated, and automatically closes after the lamp has been deactivated.
There is a need in the automotive lamp industry for covers for lamps that will protect the lamp lens from road hazards such as rocks and other material thrown up against the lamp lens.
In the past, such covers have usually taken the form of plastic covers intended to be manually removed from the lamp prior to lamp activation and then manually replaced on the lamp after the lamp has been deactivated. A common problem with this prior art approach is that such covers must be manually removed and then installed. Typically, a vehicle must be stopped and the driver must get out of the vehicle in order to remove or replace such a cover. Furthermore, such covers must be stored somewhere in the vehicle until the time at which they are replaced on the lamps.
A second prior art approach is to utilize a pivoting cover in front of the lamp which is manually pivoted upwardly to expose the lens prior to activation of the lamp and then downwardly over the lens to protect the lens after the lamp has been deactivated. This second prior art approach eliminates problems related to cover storage, but still requires the vehicle to be stopped and the cover to be removed before the lamp can be activated.
A recurring problem with both of these prior art approaches is that if the driver forgets to remove the cover before turning on the lamp, the intense heat of the quartz-halogen bulbs typically used with such lamps can distort and eventually melt such covers, particularly when they are made of plastic.